Aswan: Part 2 - Tea & Coffee culture on point

The tea and coffee culture in Egypt is on point you guys. There's something so incredibly notoriously chill about randomly sitting at a cafe sipping on some tea, smoking shisha, deep in conversation in 40 degree weather.

I've always been a fan of hot beverages. Despite the caffeine, I find them relaxing and calming. If you want to meet & engagewith the locals; find a cafe, order a hot beverage & in no time you'll be chatting & laughing & if you're lucky getting a free plate of falafel and nubian or arabic language lessons.

Picture sitting on a corner cafe deep in the middle of the souk watching as young and old walk by and life happens. Picture sitting on a street corner chatting to an old grandfather drinking coffee as he tells you stories about his life and experiences. Picture walking into a local perfume shop owned by a guy named Mohammed & being offered Egyptian black tea with mint while learning the ins and outs of extracting natural oils from plants and herbs to make perfumes and talking about why Egyptians are Africans. Picture sitting down with a guy named Naas, pen and paper moving from hand to hand as you, one teacher and the other student, learn from each other. What you have just pictured is not a plot from some epic novel....that's literally my life right now.

Apart from shopping for teas and spices, shirt dresses, scarves and sandals (I know right), the best part of my trip has been meeting the local guys, chatting and just having fun...... no wahala. The further south of Egypt I moved, the more the people started to look like me.....around here people either think I'm nubian or rastafarian (not quite sure how they make that leap.....probably has to do with the braids) but I certainly feel very welcome and part of a large, proud, nubian family. The only thing left to say is: my soul is content here.